Turncoat
By Yami Yue

Chapter Four: In the arms of the Enemy

In the blink of an eye the red glow vanished from Kero's eyes and they returned to normal. He blinked his eyes and looked down at the still form beneath him. Surprised he immediately released his mistress. "Forgive me." He said softly, trying to figure out why he would have pinned her under him in the first place. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around his midsection, and the guardian beast tumbled along with his attacker into the wall. Yue had effectively pinned him to the floor, reacting instantly when he realized Kero meant to attack Sakura. "Let me up." Kero protested. "So you can finish what you started?" Yue replied, in an icy tone. "I think not." "Let me up." Kero said. "Sakura could be hurt." Yue looked down at the sun guardian and their eyes met. The familiar warm, golden eyes were staring back at him. Yue kept his eyes on Kero as he released him from his hold. Kero rolled over onto his feet, and immediately went to his friend's side. He laid his head on her chest and was relieved to hear a heartbeat. "What have I done?" he thought, as listened to Sakura's heartbeat. He felt a hand on his shoulder and lifted his head to look at Yue. "You must return to the book Kerberos." Yue said in his usually soft voice. "You've already attacked me and Sakura. Who knows what you'll do next time." "No." Kero protested, his golden eyes filled with horror. "It's the only way." Yue said. "No." Kero replied backing up a few steps, tears filling his eyes. "None of us are safe around you at the moment. If you were to return to the book, Sakura might be able..." Yue argued, but Kero cut him off. "I am not returning to the book." Kero said, then turned and ran from the living room.

Yue ran after him, but the guardian beast of the seal was too swift. It was as if the dash card had granted him it's power. One moment he was there the next moment the front door was open, and Kero had ran off into the night. Yue looked to the open door, tempted to go looking for the runaway guardian, but his mistress needed him more at this moment. He closed the door with a sigh and returned to the living room where Sakura was coming to. He knelt down and carefully picked her up. Gently, he laid her on the couch, checking to see if she had any wounds. "Where's Kero?" Sakura asked as her eyes opened. "He's gone." Yue answered. "He was moving too fast for me to catch him. It was as if he possessed the power of the dash card." "We have to find him." Sakura said. "That may be what's causing all of this." "What do you mean?" Yue asked, clearly not understanding. "What if Kero's possessed?" Sakura asked. "How else can you explain those eyes." She finished, shuddering at the memory of the glowing blood red eyes. "Yue we've got to find him before something else happens to him."

Kerberos ran toward the park. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was because it was the one place besides Sakura's house that was the most familiar to him. Fortunately the park was deserted. Kero didn't notice. He only wanted shelter. Shelter from the madness that had invaded his life. "Those nightmares are coming true." He thought to himself as he continued to run. "I can't let anything happen to Sakura, because of whatever's happening to me." He found his way to the king penguin slide and prepared to take shelter under it. He was a moment away from returning to his borrowed form when he felt a magical presence. It only took a heartbeat for him to know who it was. With a few flaps of his massive angel's wings Kero was airborne. "Why are running from me Kerberos?" She asked. "You're not afraid of me are you?" Kero had never had a reason or want to hate anyone before, but this woman was starting to come close. After all, there is only so far you can go with dislike.

He turned to face the woman who had single-handedly struck fear into his heart, and overpowered him. "Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" Kero growled back. The woman's shadow gray wings flapped a few times, closing the distance. "Perhaps." She responded. "…but there's always tomorrow." Kero scowled in disgust at his foe. She smiled back at him in return, a cold chilling smile without even the slightest hint of warmth or mirth. In her hand a ball of bright light began to glow. "I'll make this easy for you." She said. "Surrender now, and you will come to no harm this night. If you foolishly try and fight against me…." She paused staring him in the eye. "….let's just say you'll wish you hadn't." she continued. Kero thought about it hard. He couldn't just give up without a fight. What if Sakura needed him? He thought hard about trying to outfly her, but he had no idea if she was faster. Then there was the last alternative. When flight wasn't possible, you had to fight.

 Kero started the assault with a fireball. He knew he wouldn't able to defeat her if she decided to use her magic to make him have one of those horrible headaches. Kero hoped to at least distract her long enough to get away. His enemy blocked his fireball easily and the ball of light in her hand transformed itself into a spear in the shape of a lightning bolt. Kero tensed as he waited for her to throw it. She threw the lightning bolt at him at a startling speed. Kero was ready with an attack of his own. He dodged the bolt of lightning and returned fire with several fireballs. Amazingly, one of them actually hit his adversary. Kero used her moment of shock to attack again and was rewarded with a second blow. He was ready to strike again but felt Sakura's magic nearby, distracting him long enough to allow one of his opponent's lightning bolts to get too close for comfort. Kero was able to dodge that one but not the one that was right behind it. He was hit in the side, knocking him to the ground. With the wind knocked out of him, Kero was unable to fight back until he recovered. Unfortunately his advisory was not going to allow him those few moments. In a blaze of blinding white light they disappeared, just as Yue was within sight.

 Quickly, the moon angel turned and shielded Sakura from the blinding light. "What was that?" Sakura asked. "I don't know." Syaoran answered, "…but I sensed some powerful magic." Sakura nodded in agreement and closed her eyes. She frowned then opened them again. "I don't sense Kero anymore." She said softly as she opened her eyes again. "Me either." Syaoran said. "That doesn't make sense, I could feel his magic here a second ago." "Whoever created that light might have taken him." Sakura said. Yue frowned. "Come on let's keep looking." Sakura said.

When the light faded, Kero was no longer in the park. He was inside a massive cage, in the center of a large room. "I have to admit, you are stronger than I thought Kerberos." The woman said as she came into view. "You were able to come out of my control very quickly." She continued. "I will have to make sure that doesn't happen again." "What do you want with me?" Kero asked. The woman smiled at him. "I already told you." She said simply. "For now I must rest, but don't worry you will be well taken care of." With that the mysterious woman turned and left the room. Kero listened as the woman's footsteps faded away, then devoted his concentration on getting out of the cage. The first thing he noticed was that the bars were wide enough for him to fit though in his borrowed form, however when he tried to return to his borrowed form nothing happened. "She's blocked my magic." He thought to himself as he heard footsteps coming his way. A moment later a teenage girl entered. Her jet black hair held in ponytail, her deep green eyes settled on him as soon as she entered. "Oh you poor thing." She said, walking over to the cage. "What on earth did she do to you?" Kero sat and watched her approach the cage. "I hope you aren't hurt." She continued, stopping a few feet away from the cage. "I'll live." Kero said. The girl gasped. "Y-y-you can talk?" she asked softly. "Yes." Kero answered. "My name is Jade. Jade Takahara." The girl said. "Do you have a name?" Kero smiled. "I am Kerberos." Kero answered. "Are you hurt?" Jade asked. "I'll be alright." Kero assured her. "I just need to get out of here." Jade sighed. "I'm afraid that would be impossible." She said sadly. "If you try to escape you will wake the monster that brought you here." Kero frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. "What do you know about her?" he asked. "Her name is Lena." Jade answered, then smiled. "It fits her actually." She said more to herself than Kero. "It means temptress." Kero had to admit it was a pretty accurate description of her. "Who is she?" Kero questioned. "The daughter of an extremely powerful sorcerer." Jade answered. "She seeks only to add to her own power." "My sister and I were unfortunate enough to be bound to her." she continued. "The only way we can be free is if someone finds a way to bind her and end the curse." It only took one look at Jade's downcast face for him to want to help her. "I would like to help, but I can do nothing inside this cage." Kero said. "I doubt even my friends can find me here. " "Maybe there's a way I can get them here." Jade said. The thought of Lena finding Sakura here made Kero uneasy. His mistress was strong but was she strong enough to defeat Lena? Then there was the possibly that Lena would use him against Sakura. Her control of him might last longer next time, and with the added fact that she could make him feel intense pain when she desired was another thing against them.

"I don't know if that is a good idea." Kero said. "Perhaps if you could get a message to them. Tell them for the time being I am alright and you need their help more than I do at the moment. " He suggested. "Surely they can find a way to break the curse." Jade nodded. "Tell them this as well." Kero instructed. "Tell the kid to help Yue protect Sakura, even from me." Jade nodded. "I will relay your message." She assured him. "Just in case they don't believe you give them the earring in my ear." He said, bowing his head so she could reach it though the bars. After fumbling with it for a few moments she finally managed to get the piece of jewelry off the guardian beast. "Where can I find them?" she asked. Kero could sense a faint magic within her. "Can you use magic?" He asked. "Yes, it's not very strong though." Jade answered. "Why?" "Go to the king penguin slide in the park and if you use your magic they may just find you." He said. Jade nodded. "I'll be back." She assured him then ran from the room at full speed. Kero sighed and laid down. He was so tired. Lena's assaults had not only worn out his body but his spirit as well. He closed his golden eyes reluctantly, hoping that Jade could find Sakura. He was worried about his mistress. "She must be afraid of me now." he thought sadly. "Still, I hope she isn't too worried about me." Within moments Kero was asleep, though his sleep was still light enough for him to know when someone was near.

Meanwhile, Syaoran, Sakura and Yue had finished their search of the park and had sat down to rest. "Where on earth could he be?" Sakura moaned. "We've searched the whole park and no sign of him." "What if something's happened to him?" she continued. "Some mistress of the Cards I turned out to be." She muttered to herself. "I can't even find my own guardian." "Don't be so hard on yourself Sakura." Syaoran said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "This isn't your fault." "He is right." Yue agreed. Both teens turned to look at the moon guardian. Even though Yue had warmed up to Sakura over the years, neither teen expected him to openly agree to Syaoran's statement. "It is getting late and both of you are tired." Yue continued. "Perhaps it is time I took you home Sakura, before your father and brother get worried about you." Sakura sighed. He was right. "We can continue our search tomorrow." Syaoran said. Just as Sakura was going to agree, the three of them felt a magical presence nearby. Suddenly as though their prayers were answered they spotted Kerberos flying above them in the night sky.


To Be Continued . . .